The Hindu : Front Page : ISRO gearing up to put Israeli satellite in orbit

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Thursday, Mar 19, 2009
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ISRO gearing up to put Israeli satellite in orbit

T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI: A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to put in orbit Israeli satellite RISAT in the first week of April.

The vehicle integration has already begun at the spaceport at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The launch campaign is gathering speed. The vehicle, PSLV-C12, will also deploy a mini-satellite called Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai.

RISAT is a radar-imaging satellite used for remote-sensing. It can take pictures of the earth 24 hours of the day, through rain and cloud. The satellite has already reached Sriharikota from Israel.

Anusat, an amateur communications satellite weighing 38 kg, was integrated at the Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, of Anna University.

It is undergoing tests at the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore. It will reach Sriharikota soon. Its integration helped the students to get a hands-on experience in understanding the complexities in building a satellite.

This is the second time that the ISRO will be putting in orbit a satellite from Israel. On January 21, 2008, a PSLV deployed in orbit Tecsar, also a radar-imaging, remote-sensing satellite. The launch was executed under a commercial contract between the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Antrix Corporation, the commercial wing of the Department of Space.

India may use the radar images from the Israeli RISAT because the integration of India’s own RISAT had been delayed, an ISRO official said. However, another ISRO official said, “We do not know the end-user.” The Indian version of RISAT will be launched later this year or next year.

The PSLV that will put RISAT and Anusat in orbit in April from Sriharikota’s second launch pad is a “core-alone” version — without the six strap-on booster motors that form part of the standard PSLV. The core-alone vehicle weighs 230 tonnes while a normal PSLV weighs 295 tonnes. The PSLV is 44 metres tall.

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